CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
The CFPB recently issued its annual fair lending report covering its fair lending activity in 2021.
In the report’s discussion of its risk-based approach for prioritizing fair lending supervisory and enforcement activity, the CFPB indicates that much of its enforcement and supervision efforts were focused on advancing its priorities of advancing racial and economic equity and promoting economic recovery related to the COVID-19 pandemic. … Continue Reading
At an industry fair lending conference last week, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the CFPB, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) outlined fair lending priorities for their agencies. These represent the first remarks by these regulators following the DOJ’s announcement of its major new “Combatting Redlining Initiative” on October 22, 2021, and it was the topic of each of their presentations. … Continue Reading
In this podcast, we discuss: the compliance challenges that could give rise to enforcement actions against PPP lenders and current and potential future investigatory activity; fair lending guidance for PPP lenders, key fair lending risks, and steps to mitigate fair lending risk; the status of examinations and reviews related to PPP loans; sources of compliance risk for PPP lenders; and suggested best practices for risk mitigation.… Continue Reading
We look at the practices found to be unlawful by CFPB examiners in these markets, discuss what the findings signal for future scrutiny of these markets by the “new CFPB”, and share practical takeaways for companies operating in these markets. Issues highlighted in our conversation include the CFPB’s findings regarding “unreliable furnishers,” furnisher handling of “frivolous or irrelevant” disputes, interest accrual on debts in collection, and mortgage servicer consideration of private mortgage insurance termination dates when estimating disbursements in an annual escrow analysis.… Continue Reading
After announcing several years ago that it intended to pick up with fair lending enforcement in the indirect auto finance market where the CFPB left off, the New York Department of Financial Services has announced two consent orders with smaller, New York-chartered banks based on the allegation that allowing auto dealers to negotiate the retail prices of retail installment contracts resulted in a disparate impact on the basis of race and national origin.… Continue Reading
During May 2021, the federal Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a report (GAO-21-393) containing findings from its review of issues related to the CFPB’s oversight and enforcement of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”). Specifically, the report examines how the CFPB has (i) managed the reorganization of its Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity and related risks during 2018, (ii) monitored and reported on its fair lending performance, and (iii) used new HMDA data fields to analyze and support its fair lending activities. … Continue Reading
The CFPB recently issued its annual fair lending report. The report describes the CFPB’s fair lending activities in supervision and enforcement; guidance and rulemaking; interagency coordination; and outreach and education for 2020.
The report states that the Bureau announced two public fair lending enforcement actions in 2020. One of those actions represented the CFPB’s first ever redlining complaint against a non-bank mortgage lender and the other action involved allegations of inaccurate HMDA data reporting. … Continue Reading
While much attention has been paid to the “new CFPB’s” plans to make fair lending a top priority, the fair lending practices of financial institutions supervised by the federal banking agencies are also likely to face greater scrutiny under the Biden Administration.
In its Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights, the FDIC describes several matters involving fair lending that were identified during consumer compliance examinations conducted in 2020 and referred to the DOJ because the FDIC concluded that it had reason to believe that the creditor had engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination. … Continue Reading
Under the leadership of Acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio, the Bureau issued an interpretive rule on March 9, 2021 clarifying that the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and Regulation B includes sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. This prohibition includes discrimination based on actual or perceived non-conformity with traditional sex- or gender-based stereotypes, and discrimination based on an applicant’s social or other associations.… Continue Reading
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hunt Mortgage, a licensed mortgage banker, to address the DFS’s findings that there was a “demonstrable lack of lending to minorities and in majority-minority neighborhoods in Western and Central New York by Hunt Mortgage.” … Continue Reading
